Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The biggest headache is in tenant turnover: each time you get a new tenant, you have to make a lot of cosmetic repairs and you are paying utilities and not collecting rent while they are being done, plus you have the added costs of finding and screening tenants. If you find a good tenant, keep the rent attractive for them; your goal is not to be a slumlord, but to maintain your property at no cost until you can occupy it again.
Exactly. For that reason at the present time I intend to allow my tenants to stay on month-to-month after expiration of lease with no rent increase, and postpone any rent increases for as long as possible.
Every year you kick the can down the road is another year you won't have to face all those losses.
We were in the same boat. We didn't need to sell our house when we moved and we were pretty sure it would appreciate substantially over the next few years (turned out we were right).
Being a landlord is not easy, but having a management company to handle issues is helpful. To me the most important thing is finding the right tenants. I would say most renters won't take good care of your home so it's a bit tricky to find someone who won't destroy it or otherwise let it decay. Background and credit checks are mandatory.
Having good tenants can really make the difference between a terrible experience and one that has a positive outcome in 4 years. Ideally you want someone long term as they will more likely want to take care of the property and you won't have to spend the money to make ready if you turn over.
Screening tenants is the single most important aspect of being a landlord IMO. If you allow bad tenants in, you will pay big time. Lost rent, evicition, damages, etc.
A property manager does not have the vested interest I do in making sure I only rent to high caliber tenants.
They also don't have a vested interest in cost effective repairs, since it is not coming out of their pocket. They will usually just pick whatever is least hassle for THEM, which is usually most expensive for YOU. I've handled everything from rodents and leaks to broken appliances. Compared to being in IT, this job is CAKE.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
